An Appreciation: Life Imitates Art

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An Appreciation

9 min readDec 1, 2016

It’s raining. Clouds darken with the weight of rainfall descending on Demaray Hall. The building is made of windows that illuminate with white and gray light. Sharp angles of glass and metal are broken up by the looming, ever-present clock tower. A relic of stone, the tower is surrounded by the modernity of its brother building. Rainwater collects in the grooves of the tower’s panels, darkening its lines as though to define the pervading images collected on the aged surface. Ancient and transcendent symbols are etched with bold strokes of stone — a dove stretching towards the sky, a fetus curled into itself, and many more — all encompassed by the three-sided clock perched above. It seems a pressing reminder to those who look upon it that earthly time is running out. It seems the tower has a story to tell; perhaps many stories all in one.

I have my own story of Demaray Hall. I remember my first visit to SPU in the summer before my senior year of high school. Looking up at the monstrous clock tower, I felt that my future loomed in front of me in the same way. Everything was so fascinatingly unknown about the hall, including its enigmatic tower. Us prospective students all gathered in the Demaray lobby, milling around with drinks and catered food, pretending like we weren’t daunted by this new environment. Since coming to SPU in the fall, I‘ve been able to experience classes in Demaray. It feels like a place I could call home; it is a place of new beginnings. It’s a place of creative energy, where the things of the past are monuments of study. Many times I’ve walked past the infamous clock tower — unable to miss it — wondering what its story is. One might find that story hidden in plain sight.

The Demaray clock tower is made up of three individual panels, each panel possessing its own intended theme or idea. As seen in Appendix 1, the images on one panel are not repeated on the next. Appendices 2–4 further illustrate the impactful individuality of each panel, yet, their alarming degree of combinational unity. The western panel (Appendix 2) represents God the creator, as symbolized in its illustration of both the eye and hand of God at the top of the panel, depicting His commanding presence. The southern panel (Appendix 3) is an embodiment of Jesus the son, as seen, for example, in its depiction of the sun burst symbol[1]. The eastern panel symbolizes the Holy Spirit, as is apparent in the distinct, fiery dove[2] in mid-flight that is showcased at the top of the tower. Thus, the Godhead is not only the inspiration behind each panel, but it is a perfect metaphor for the dual unity and individuality that each panel has.

Aside from the panels’ unified yet separate biblical symbolisms, each panel of the Demaray clock tower has a designated area of humanities that it seeks to embody. The western panel represents the exploration of God’s creation in the form of physical sciences (i.e. mathematics and biological sciences). For example, the numerical symbols of the sigma[3] and the infinity are seen towards the top of the panel, along with hieroglyphic symbols and Arabian numerals. On the lower part of the panel, a tree shape alludes to the biological concept of flora. The southern panel represents the conditions and concerns of mankind, such as the inventions of man. This is exemplified in the images of the bow and arrow and coins of both ancient and modern origins. Most impactful is the image of the fetus and the skeleton, symbolizing a foremost concern of man: the moving from life to death. Finally, the eastern panel embodies the spiritual nature of humans and their pursuit of beauty, as seen in the Gregorian music notations, which represent the spirit of man in the artistic beauty of the fine arts[4].

Each panel has its own unique, intended identity that carries with it its own appreciation for the studies of humanities. It is doubtful that such a massive and influential piece of art would be plopped just anywhere on the campus of Seattle Pacific University. Its placement must be purposeful somehow. Looking for meaning in the functions of Demaray Hall — the tower’s fathering structure — it seems that the study of humanities is an obvious objective that the two buildings share. While the clock tower appreciates and honors the arts and sciences in a much more visual way, Demaray Hall certainly serves the literal purpose of facilitating the study of humanities. In elaboration, it serves as home to the college of Arts and Sciences. It can easily be argued a fitting and pragmatic choice for such an artistic clock tower to stand beside. Yet, upon examining the history of both structures, deeper answers to the purpose and reason behind the buildings can be found.

Created in 1967, Demaray Hall itself was erected in the namesake of SPU’s fourth president, President C. Dorr Demaray, who was elected in 1960. He was elected unanimously based on his “complete dedication to evangelical Protestantism” (McNichols 106). In 1966, Seattle Pacific’s senior class dedicated the clock tower to the university. As pictured in Appendix 5, solely the barren clock tower itself was donated by the students; not the panels themselves. The panel designs would come in 1968, created by art professor and chair of the department Ernest “Ernst” F. Schwidder. Schwidder’s style is known for its successful intermingling of worship and education, citing “religion as the unifying element in all intellectual pursuits and the Godhead as the front of all knowledge”[5]. Thus, the views of Schwidder perfectly align with the message of the University and the views of its president. After its establishment, the new and improved tower “brought a distinctive character to the new building that was to become a center for campus activity” (McNichols 131). The tower was designed to be a central, impactful element of the campus that would bring a new revival and motivation to both academic pursuits and those of faith.

There are many distinct parts to the tower, both figuratively and literally. The tower itself was donated by the class of 1966; however, the panels of Dr. Schwidder’s design were dedicated by its donors to their loved ones and those who had influenced them. As seen in Appendix 6, the east panel was dedicated to the late Mr. Lew V Day by its donor(s) for his many contributions to the community, one of them being his position as chairman of the Seattle-King County chapter of the Red Cross. The clock tower, which was originally referred to as the “Demaray Hall Memorial Tower” (Appendix 7), is a dedication to those who have passed that had some influence the greater Seattle community. These glorified names are not the actual donors, which spikes interest, as the donors to the creation of the panels curiously wished to remain anonymous and glorify another name instead. Even the tower itself has a strange anonymity in its donation simply from the “Class of 1966”. No name is emphasized over another.

There is a sense of selflessness that accompanies the purposes behind both Demaray Hall and its tower. President Demaray was ironically quoted in a 1960 student-conducted interview as saying “Students are our primary interest. We are here to serve them, not to build buildings” (McNichols 107). Therefore, the man never wished for a building to be named in his honor, much less to gain personal glory. His devotion was to his students. His name was bestowed on the building as more of an outside tribute, not by his personal wish.

Dr. Schwidder is a curious case of selflessness as well. Schwidder remained at SPU only for a short time, arriving at Seattle Pacific as chairman of the art department in the mid-1960s, only to leave for another position at Pacific Lutheran University in 1967. He stayed at PLU until his retirement in 1992. Perhaps a piece of such magnitude could have found its home at the school that he spent thirty-five years teaching at, rather than a school he hardly spent five years at. Why the generosity? His massive, intricately-designed panels were a puzzling — perhaps overly generous — “parting gift”.

Even stranger, Schwidder’s name is not written on the commemorative plaque that is placed below the tower; the “Class of 1966” is. The professor remained at SPU for less than a decade. He remained at PLU for a span greater than twenty years, up until his retirement. Thus, it seems odd that a relic of Schwidder’s artistic mastery and distinct style would erect itself in the form of a massive stone structure at the heart of a campus he spent little time at. This points to a much higher meaning. It seems that, like President Demaray, Schwidder’s purposes were much greater than personal glory. In all three cases — the clock tower, the panels, and Demaray Hall itself — the philanthropic model speaks to an anomalistic, hidden kind of generosity.

This “hidden” philanthropy is certainly not a kind of philanthropy Andrew Carnegie would support in his self-righteous Gospel of Wealth. Carnegie calls for those of individual wealth to administer their riches in ways that will help their communities “far better than it would have done for itself” (Carnegie 92). A clock tower with artistic panels is certainly not a free library or a public park erected by a sole, generous individual. Rather, the Demaray Memorial Tower is a summation of multiple moving parts and anonymous persons who sought to bring tribute to memory and appreciation to the gift of the arts. This generous appreciation is something that Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man can pinpoint in the character of the sentimental founding father. The old, wealthy man sought to bring tribute to his late daughter in his founding of the university; stating that “Everything that I’ve done since her passing has been a monument to her memory” (Ellison 72). There’s the word: monument. That is what Demaray Memorial Tower ultimately is. It is no pragmatic trophy of the individual’s success and generosity.

The Demaray Memorial Tower can be appreciated as something that has become larger than itself (both literally and figuratively). It is merely a massive, indecipherable structure of stone if one looks at it without an artistic or appreciative eye. However, if one looks deeper, one would see that it stands to represent the presence of God in the many pursuits of man. The tower serves as a reminder that even in anonymity, generosity erects the hopes and pursuits of many in a glorious thing of beauty that can be appreciated by many for years to come. The eye of an artist, the humble gratitude of the wealthy, and the dreams of a University come together in a tower that is truly one of a kind. A monument to memory, the Demaray Memorial Tower reminds us that individual glory isn’t always more.

[1] The sun burst is symbolic of the light of God as was said to shine through Jesus (for example, in the passage of Matthew 3:16 NIV, it is said that at Jesus’ baptism God’s light was said to “alight on him” and shine down from the opened heavens)

[2] In Matthew 3:16, a dove was said to descend from the heavens in the form of God’s Holy Spirit.

[3] The sigma is symbolic for “summation”

[4] As is elaborated upon in Appendix 3, Martin Luther was quoted in saying “Music is the language of the angels”, directly associating music with the Holy Spirit (which is intentionally the thematic entity of the eastern panel)

[5] Cited from Appendix 8

Appendix 1: